Secrets Are Secrets
by TheJLB
Summary: Ziva becomes close with an important witness to their important case. Will her actions cause problems for the team? Ziva-centric, with Tiva later on. Romance/Angst/Comfort as well. Multi-chapter story.
1. Dripping Hearts

_**Author's Note: I have a feeling this story will evolve to something good. I have a nice plot planned out in my head. This is my first case fic, so please be nice! It's very Ziva-centric. More than likely Tiva in the future. Please review and tell me if you like it!**_

_**Disclaimer: GOOD NEWS! I just recieved the rights to NCIS! I got a letter today in the mail from Shane Brennan- Hold on a sec, it's my phone. Gotta take this.**_

_**Okay, that was Shane Brennan. False alarm, I don't have the rights to NCIS.**_

Ziva loved running; preferably in the cold weather. Nothing was more soothing than inhaling the crisp early-winter air and feeling it rush into her lungs, filling every crevice, before another rush followed with another breath. It was a cycle that kept turning, until she could bear it no more. That was when her throat was too parched to make a sound, and her lips were dry and chapped. But she lived for that, and she received it every morning exactly at 4 am.

This morning was a bit different, though. Her alarm clock failed to go off at its normal time, so she ended up getting up at 4:30. She cursed the red letters blinking at her as she shot up out of bed. She knew her whole morning would be thrown off-kilter now that she was behind an hour. She still wanted to go out running today, because it was perfect weather to go out and she couldn't just pass it up. She would take the shorter path, she decided. Instead of venturing all the way down to U street, which was 7 miles, she would just go down to the park at Johnson, around by K street and then loop back around. That would be about 3 miles, there and back. She planned all of this out as she quickly dressed in her sweat suit and made sure her bag was ready when she came home.

This unexpected morning rush just added to the extensive stress she was already under from the current case they were working on. It was a long and dragging one; they were in the process of hunting down a serial rapist and killer. The case was just transferred over to them from the FBI, and they had been working their asses off trying to get it done as soon as possible. Of course the team put forth their best effort in their work, but they have been running around the city trying to gather evidence, when there was none to be found. Tedious work, but it had to be done. Ziva just waited for the day they could finally put this case to rest.

She found herself thinking all of this as she jogged out the front door, shutting it tight behind her. Hopefully Gibbs would realize the case was dead, and soon give it up. But Ziva knew the chances of that happening were slim. The only reason this case was transferred to them was because the girls who were being raped were daughters of honorable Marines.

Once Ziva made it onto the sidewalk, she started off jogging at a stable pace. She slowly increased as she passed block after block, the street signs whizzing by as she now kept a rapid and secure rhythm. Her pounding feet pulsate through her muscles and bones, and she could feel the tempo of her blood that was flowing through her veins increase with each step. She had to slow down a bit as she passed the busy part of town; there were more pedestrians on the sidewalk, even at the early hours of four thirty.

She was pretty much down to a walking pace again by the time the turned the corner by the bus stop and the local Starbucks. The pathway was clear for her to burst into a sprint again, but something caught her eye. Down an alley way, she saw a foot. It was sticking out between a pile of plastic garbage bags filled with clothing, and an old, worn out couch. She shot her head to the right and then to the left to check for anything else out of the ordinary. White-hot adrenaline started to pump through her veins; she could feel her hearing and eyesight become acute as she rounded the corner into the dark alleyway.

It was humid, and smelled of mold, moisture, cigarettes and booze. An old beer can crunched down beneath her right foot; this must be a place where teenagers hang out in the small hours of the morning. She neared the couch and turned slowly, facing the shivering body that lay before her.

It was a young girl, of about fourteen of fifteen. She sat up abruptly at seeing Ziva before her, and then burst out in tears. Ziva could see the girl had been crying for hours before her arrival, because her eyes were puffy and bloodshot and her lips were swollen. The girl backed up into the far corner of the couch and curled into a ball, as if to protect herself from the strange woman standing before her. Ziva's heart skipped a beat with empathy, and concern grew evident in her chocolate brown eyes.

"Hello." Ziva said quietly to the girl. She brought her head up from her knees and stared at Ziva, waiting for her to say something else.

"My name is Ziva. What's your name?" She asked again in a meek manner, taking one step towards the girl again. Ziva stopped moving as the young girl tensed up even more, and said, "I'm here to help you, but first you have to help me. What's your name?"

She watched as the girl relaxed her muscles, and looked up once again. She had soft green eyes, but they were filled with neglect and distrust. Her face was flushed from the heat, but still took on a ghastly appearance. Ziva knew that look; this girl had been raped.

"Paige." The girl replied, almost inaudible. Her voice was meek and shaky. "Paige Romano." Ziva felt it was okay to take another step towards her now, and the girl reached out to take Ziva's hand. Paige was shaking violently, probably with fear and the fact it was thirty-nine degrees outside and all she had on was a light purple sweatshirt, blue underwear, and socks with no shoes. Ziva helped her up and offered Paige her coat and gloves, which she took ardently. Ziva knew that she couldn't take her out anywhere in public; not only is that degrading, but she had nowhere to go.

"Where is your family, Paige?" Ziva asked, as she helped her into the sleeves of her insulated blue coat.

"I-I'm staying with m-my grandmother. She l-lives a few blocks d-down." Paige responded with a little bit more strength than before.

"Paige, why are you staying with your grandparents? What happened to your parents?"

Ziva saw Paige blink back tears as she began to explain.

"M-my mother died six months ago from br-breast cancer, just two month after my d-dad left f-for the Middle East. I d-don't know much about w-where he is, b-but I know that he's s-somewhere in Iraq."

This caught Ziva's attention right away. Her father was fighting in the war, and she was a young girl who was just raped. This would fit their case very well.

"Is your father a Marine?"

"Y-Yes"

Ziva sat Paige back on the couch for one moment and took out her phone to call for help. At first, she thought about just calling the police, but now she decided to call Gibbs instead. But even before she did that, she called Tony. He lives just a few blocks down from where they were now. She told him to come to the alleyway just left of Starbucks on Johnson, and to bring warm clothes and water. They would drive Paige to the hospital and fill Gibbs in on the way.

"Paige, I have one of my friends coming to help you. We'll drive you to the hospital." Ziva reassured her, looking deep into her eyes.

"Why s-should I let you take me to the hospital? I-I don't even know y-you." Paige said apprehensively. Ziva had decided to tell her who she was, it would make everything easier.

"Paige, my name is Special Agent Ziva David, NCIS." Luckily Ziva took her badge this morning, just in case. Last time she went running she forgot to bring in with her. Come to think of it, she was lucky she brought her cell phone, too.

"I called Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo to come bring supplies." Ziva could feel her agent side beginning to kick in, but she caught herself in the middle of it. She needed to remember that she wasn't dealing with some international diplomat; she was dealing with a young girl who just wanted help. "We're investigating a case, and you might just be involved with it."

Paige's face was not phased the slightest bit. Of course, Ziva didn't expect any reaction from her, but still. It was not normal. But this was not exactly normal circumstances.

"T-thank you, Ziva David." Paige said solemnly. This took Ziva off-guard. She could feel the tears stinging the back of her eyes, but she kept them back. She knew how emotionally unstable this girl was. If she let one single tear slip down her cheek, that would be the end of this calm state they had reached.

Ziva choose not to respond, she just nodded as a gesture of her understanding. She could practically feel her heart dripping with compassion, and looked down at the ground in front of her. She was going to say something else, but Ziva instead took a seat down next to Paige, and put her arm around the girl's still shaking body. Ziva saw a tear drop down Paige's face and onto her lap. Ziva tightened her grip around her arm, and held her firm against her warm body.

"It will all be okay, Paige. Trust me, everything will be okay." Ziva heard Paige sniffle and begin to silently sob into Ziva's shoulder. Ziva had a hard time keeping the tears back, but she just managed to stop them before they flowed freely. Ziva comfortingly rubbed her hand up and down Paige's arm, and they just sat, waiting for Tony to arrive.

**_Please review! I really need your feedback!_**


	2. Walk Ins Are Welcome

**Author's note: I did do a little POV jumping, but that's the way I like writing. I try to make the transitions as clear as possible. Just to give you a little warning. I hope you guys like this one! I tried my best, I really did.**

Tony felt terribly awkward when he found Ziva with the girl; Ziva didn't exactly let him know why she required his assistance. He never gave it much thought as to why she would tell him to bring clothes and water to a random alley in the center of DC, but he definitely wasn't expecting to walk into some sort of rape scene. When he got there, he pulled Ziva away to speak to her. Actually, more like yell quietly into her ear. Ziva chose to ignore his complaints; she just dressed the girl in Tony's sweatpants and sweatshirt and walked to the car, with her arm around the girl the whole time.

The car ride to the hospital was long and uncomfortable, even though it was only about a ten minute drive. But the tension in the car made each minute feel like an hour, it felt. Ziva had yet to explain anything to him at all. He didn't know who the girl was, what her business was, and why Ziva felt the need to spend her time babysitting the kid. But he chose not to complain any more, he could tell that Ziva was not in the mood.

By the time Tony and Ziva made their way to the hospital with Paige, Gibbs was already there waiting to talk to the two of them. He had gotten a call from Ziva that she might have found a lead on their case, but he didn't know a trip to the hospital was involved. He was almost sure what they did was against protocol in some way or another, but he didn't really care about that. This girl brought the team that much closer to catching the sick bastard they've been hunting for weeks, and frankly, Gibbs was eternally grateful to Ziva. For the moment, anyway.

"Gibbs," Ziva said, calling his name. She had just made sure Paige was getting the proper examination she needed, and now she could relax for a second. Tony was sitting there in the waiting room, staring at nothing off in the distance. He was more than ready to go back to the office. Tony had gotten no sleep last night, and he hoped to get to the office and do nothing for the day. But instead, his day started extra early with this lovely scenario. Gibbs was standing next to him, waiting for Ziva to come back out with some details. He could hear Tony's fingers clicking impatiently on the plastic arm rest of the waiting room chair. Tony breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Ziva emerge from the doors of the ER, with determination in her eye and a notepad in her hand.

"The girl's name is Paige Romano; her father's name is Staff Sergeant Andrew G. Romano. He is currently stationed in Iraq, and her mother died of cancer ten months ago. She is living with her grandmother on her mother's side, Helen Grey..She has no other living relatives besides her father and grandmother. Romano claims she was raped while on her way to get milk for her grandmother around midnight. Apparently there was only one man, and she couldn't see his face, even though the attacker wasn't wearing a face mask. All she remembers is that he was "white and was blonde" Ziva said, reading her notepad she had used to question Paige with while they were waiting for Tony to pick them up. "I know it's not a lot, but it's the best I could get."

Gibbs took the notepad out of Ziva's hand and threw it in down into Tony's lap. His head shot up into the air, his eyes alert for the smallest second before he realized what was just given to him.  
"DiNozzo, bring that to McGee. Tell him to pull up any information on the Romano's and her grandmother. We might have something here." Gibbs instructed, stiffly pointing to the door when Tony didn't get up right away.

"Oh, yeah, right away, Boss." Tony recited, bouncing out of his chair, taking a moment to adjust his tie, and headed towards the door. Before he could go anywhere, a stocky woman with graying hair came charging through the entrance and practically shoving Tony right into Ziva.

"Where's my granddaughter? Where's Paige?" She shouted at the nurse stationed at the check-in desk. The young woman looked alarmed and began frantically searching through the registry on the computer, looking for the name.

"I think we found Helen Grey." Ziva said, gently nudging Gibbs in the side. The corner of his mouth went up in an amused smirked, and he motioned for Tony to wait before he headed out to the office, in case they could get any information from Grey. Gibbs walked over towards the old woman, touching her arm to grab her attention, and she turned around sharply.

"I'm busy right now, excuse me." She responded harshly, turning back toward the young woman at the desk. Gibbs reached into his pocket, and said "Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS" as he flashed the gold badge and I.D. Grey turned back towards Gibbs, this time a little more concern on her face.

"What can I help you with, Agent Gibbs?" Grey said, raising her eyebrows coarsely as she said his name. Gibbs flipped closed his badge and put in back in his pocket, starring at the woman with his ice-blue eyes. He didn't exactly like her tone.

"Helen Grey? Your granddaughter, Paige Romano, is currently involved in an NCIS investigation." Gibbs said inferiorly, watching the woman's face become grave with worry.

"What...what happened? Is she alright?"

"Well, you're at a hospital right now, what do you think?" By now Ziva had walked over to Gibbs and joined in the conversation. Grey's face had become even more alarmed by now, and she turned back to the nurse, who now had the girl's room number and information all ready.

"Paige Romano, room 12a, right down the hallway to your left." She began to walk hurriedly toward the door, but was stopped abruptly from Gibbs's arm, which was ejected out in front of her.

"Wait. Agent David goes with you" Gibbs said sternly. "Romano's a witness. We're not taking any chances." Grey turned and looked over Ziva, and Ziva just smiled back politely, with a hint of contradiction in her eyes. She had a gut feeling this woman was bad news.

**Please review and tell me what you think. And if you have any suggestions or if you think I something I wrote could have been better, please PM me.**


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